Research Notes
Content Description
White Pine: King of Many Waters, published by Mountain Press, Missoula, Montana, in 1970, is a history of logging, sawmilling, and shingle manufacturing in the Idaho counties of Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone, and is the culmination of a six year research project of two retired foresters, Clarence Strong and Clyde Webb. Some of their research was done at the University of Idaho library and the library was fortunate enough to become the recipient of their materials.
Included among these materials are 137 photographs, many of which were not used in the book, both holograph and typed notes, newspaper articles on the timber industry, correspondence with informants, often relatives of prominent lumbermen, and the correspondence between the two authors. This correspondence begins with Strong's letter to Webb on July 28, 1964 in which he sets out his ideas for the book and asks Webb if he would be willing to assist with the research, and continues throughout the many fact finding trips, the attempts to find a publisher, and the final publication and distribution of the book. The final items in this group are typescripts of two drafts of the text.
The contents of this archival group are related in more detail in the following Description of Series.
Parts of this collection have been digitized and is avaiable at the White Pine - King of Many Waters Collection.
Dates
- Creation: 1964-1970
Creator
- From the Collection: Strong, Clarence C. (Clarence Charles), 1895-1982 (Person)
- From the Collection: Webb, Clyde S., 1889- (Person)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Extent
From the Collection: 1.5 Cubic Feet
Language of Materials
From the Collection: English
Materials Specific Details
In compiling the data for White Pine: King of Many Waters the authors spent many tedious hours copying information on sawmill locations and output, mill and lumber yard fires, and other historical material from old newspapers and lumber trade journals. They also spend many interesting and enjoyable hours interviewing the old-timers who were present in the Coeur d'Alenes during the early days of lumbering.
The material compiled includes charts of incorporation records which list the name of the firm, the names of the incorporators, the date of incorporation, the capitalization, and the place of business for concerns in Benewah and Kootenai counties. There are also listings from the tax rolls of Kootenai, Benewah, and Shoshone counties. Then there is a folder listing lumber mills found in various editions of the Polk Directory, West Coast Lumbermans Directory, Handbook and Directory of the Forest Industry, and the Timberman and Lumbermans Directory of Lumber and Sawmills.
There are two typescripts of articles on mining in the Coeur d'Alenes, "First-hand accounts tell of the colorful beginning of mining in the Coeur d'Alenes," by Joel E. Ferris (23 p.), and Eugene V. Smalley's article which appeared in an 1884 Century magazine, "The Coeur d'Alene stampede; the Pritchard-Murray Gold Rush," (21 p.):
The manuscript notes include statistics on logging railroad mileage and flume mileage, a list of people interviewed, and notes from various printed sources. The notes are on loose sheets of paper, each one dated, identified as to the place where the notes were made, and the source of information. These include not only the notes made in libraries, but also contain the notes made during personal interviews. Another set of notes contains information on sawmill construction taken from trade journals or newspapers dating from 1894 to 1909.
The typed notes contain the same type of material found in the manuscript notes, and in some cases duplicate it.
Repository Details
Part of the University of Idaho Library, Special Collections and Archives Repository